Thursday, March 29, 2012

A high, seemingly inaccessible mountain. Two men, who were not professional mountain climbers, have claimed that the Flame of Life burns on the very peak of the mountain. This peak has to be conquered!
The statement was believed only by a few, however for long-long years, brave men tried to find a way to the peak; they followed the most diverse, fantastic. smart, heroic ways but unfortunately they do not realized that there are at least three insurmountable obstacles on all the ways they have gone, and even now they keep and keep trying, cannot believe that ascension on their ways is impossible.
In meantime a solitary wise man (whom the others have not followed and have marginalized) has discovered step by step, very methodically a much better way. When he has almost arrived to the top, surprisingly, a rather strange, but very hard working, lucky, inspired, weird individual has discovered a shortcut!
He had a partner for this ascension but quite unexpectedly has abandoned him. The discoverer is not able to use well the shortcut. The abandoned partner is a very fast learner; he understood the advanced ascension methods of both the wise old man and the weird man and of many others, was able to improve them creatively and has solved the problem. The former partner used engineering to build a real, good shortcut-way, and has brought the Flame of Life to the people.
Happy end i.e. a good and great start.
……….
Personal comments: I well know that, like definitions, metaphors carry the curse of simplifications, they also can modify or kill some essential details of truth. However I consider that at my age, you have to tell what you think and you accept the risks to not please quite everybody. Some can consider this story too anticipative, many could deny me the right to tell what will not work. I am aware that I am not infallible and perhaps my judgment is not very sophisticated. I apologize for all my weaknesses and I ask you, my dear colleagues- write a better metaphor story of LENR. Let’s future and facts to decide!

Saturday, March 24, 2012

EDITORIAL
This is the last issue of the INFORMAVORE’s SUNDAY newsletter, the end of a long series formed of 437 INFO KAPPAs
(in Romanian) plus 63 issues of the English INFORMAVORE.
A last Mohican of this kind of information rich and link-dense
publications_Magua has killed Uncas, low speed is fatal for such publications. I have watched many of these- disappearing- the
most impressive being the Internet Resources Newsletter (British).
But times are changing, specifically accelerating and this category
of publications are ‘passe”. You cannot make a reader happy giving her/him a bunch of over 100 links of variable interestingness at once; even with a good taxonomy the reader has to search and discover her/his favorite subjects and themes.
To say the truth, my newsletter was relatively unpopular
I will not get a farthing or a cent for all these ISs, I will not win any contest, surely I will make blunders and typos will happen- therefore the main driving force of composing such a newsletter is generosity i.e. the hope that you will get the empathy of the people. (but do not ignore the more selfish idea to be permanently well informed). The author is informed on an continuous basis and the reader only once per week. This is not fair, slow generosity is an auto-destructive oxymoron.
I respect the saying “Bis dat, qui cito dat” if you give , you have to do this very fast. Information has to be transferred instantly.
Ergo, I am stopping the Informavores and starting “Qui Cito” I
will select the really remarkable publications, let you know about them ASAP, will tell you my opinion about them, will be very interested in your comments and ideas. It is about something more personal, more dialogue like.
Do not mourn Informavore’s Sunday, it has tried very hard to make its duty- and that’s the maximum we (newsletters and humans) can achieve during our lifetimes.
Peter

Thursday, March 22, 2012

My dear Readers,
You can find here many proofs that the world is progressing,
at least technologically and scientifically. However, even people
that are future-oriented and progressive and left-hemisphere thinkers like me, sometimes have a self-contradictory relationship with Change. I have to confess that what happens with the Encyclopedia Britannica has shocked me. OK, Wikipedia is a miracle of the e-Era, however…please give me the freedom to
remain undecided if this is good or bad or both or none, simply inevitable.
Peter
SEARCH
INTERNET
Al Gore Invented the Internet? What Did Al Gore Really Say?: http://websearch.about.com/od/internet101/f/al-gore.htm?nl=1
SEARCH & FIND: What, where, how.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

EXCUSE ME FOLKS I DON'T KNOW WHY TH HYPERLINKS ARE
INACTIVATED! I HAVE TO GO IN THE TOWN: WHEN COMING
BACK I'LL TRY TO REPAIR THIS!

My dear Readers,

You can find here many proofs that the world is progressing,
at least technologically and scientifically. However, even people
that are future-oriented and progressive and left-hemisphere thinkers like me, sometimes have a self-contradictory relationship with Change. I have to confess that what happens with the Encyclopedia Britannica has shocked me. OK, Wikipedia is a miracle of the e-Era, however…please give me the freedom to
remain undecided if this is good or bad or both or none, simply inevitable.
Peter

New Video: Web Browsers Explained by Common Craft: http://www.commoncraft.com/new-video-web-browsers-explained-common-craft

Microsoft Builds a Browser for Your Past
Prototype software called Lifebrowser uses artificial intelligence to help you revisit important events, photos, and e-mails from your own life: http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/39917/?nlid=nldly&nld=2012-03-16

Facebook, Friend or Foe? Investors have realized that companies no longer compete with Facebook, they compete on it: http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052970203358704577235213738850008-lMyQjAxMTAyMDEwMTExNDEyWj.html

What Your Tweets Tell Us About You: Identity, Ownership and
Privacy of Twitter Data
http://www.ijdc.net/index.php/ijdc/article/view/214/283

GOOGLE
Google+ and the Long Game: http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/74610.html

Has Google lost its magic?:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-33617_3-57396938-276/has-google-lost-its-magic/

The Brain at Google:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-rock/google-culture-work-life_b_1289362.html

Google's New Search: One Step Closer to AI:
http://bigthink.com/ideafeed/googles-new-search-one-step-closer-to-ai

An Unprecedented Video Glimpse Into How Google Crafts Its Search Results:
http://searchengineland.com/an-unprecedented-video-glimpse-into-how-google-crafts-its-search-results-114682

Survey Paradox: People Like Google But Not What It’s Doing: http://searchengineland.com/survey-paradox-people-like-google-but-not-what-its-doing-114796

WORDS, BOOKS, LIBRARIES

I like words:
http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/03/i-like-words.html

Software Translates Your Voice into Another Language Research software from Microsoft synthesizes speech in a foreign language, but in a voice that sounds like yours: http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/39885/?nlid=nldly&nld=2012-03-12
Book Burning, 213 BC–2011 AD: http://www4.uwm.edu/libraries/burnedbooks/

Could a Nuke Stop an Asteroid After All? http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2401600,00.asp

The Fat Lady Sings for OPERA:
http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2012/03/the_fat_lady_sings_for_opera.php
A new sign of not-so-faster-than-light neutrinos:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-57398740-264/a-new-sign-of-not-so-faster-than-light-neutrinos/
I won a bet on this. Thank you, Uncle Albert!

TECHNOLOGY

What We Learned About Nuclear Safety from Fukushima. Reactors must be able to handle the worst if we hope to prevent a repeat of last year's meltdowns: http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/39867/?nlid=nlenrg&nld=2012-03-12

Despite Fukushima, Nuclear Keeps Powering Ahead
A few countries have scaled back in response to the disaster, but many others are building or planning new nuclear reactors: http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/39893/?nlid=nldly&nld=2012-03-13

The End of Nuclear Power?: http://bigthink.com/ideas/the-end-of-nuclear-power

Cheap Solar Power at Night. Improved materials could make solar-thermal power cheaper, and energy storage easier: http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/33MU0O/www.technologyreview.com/computing/39856

Startup Aims to Cut the Cost of Solar Cells in Half. A new process uses a high-energy ion accelerator to make thin silicon solar cells: http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/39887/?nlid=nldly&nld=2012-03-13

Thursday, March 15, 2012

My gratitude to Dusan Matulay who has answered fast to the appeal of our generous
friend, Gabriela Cretu the most wise and honest politician and author of books on
social subject I ever met. Thank you, Dusan! Thank you Gabi!